Niranjan hits ‘ton’

ANOTHER century by professional Niranjan Godbole steered Lurgan to a comprehensive 184 run win over Bangor at Uprichard Park on Saturday.

The visitors had made a cautious start losing James McCollum early on for two with the score on six.

Stephen Johnston (19) and Stephen Chambers (1) were also back in the pavilion with the score at 82 for three when Peter Haire joined Godbole in the middle and their century partnership was the foundation of the Lurgan victory.

Niranjan punished any loose deliveries with a superb array of shots hitting 11 boundaries in his total of 105.

Peter Haire, who has struck a rich vein of form lately, played a patient back up role and when he was dismissed for 54 with the score on 248, Steven Anderson (48 no) took up the gauntlet and along with Davy Haire (9 no) took the Lurgan total to 272 for five. Because of two rain interruptions in the Lurgan innings, Bangor had 49 overs to chase the Lurgan score. However a home win never really looked on the cards as wickets fell at regular intervals throughout the Bangor innings.

They had only reached 88 in the 31st over when the final wicket fell leaving Lurgan victorious by a considerable margin.

All the Lurgan bowlers proved very economical. Niranjan Godbole backed up his batting exploits up with three wickets for 14 runs in six overs while Callum Grieve had two for 16 off five.

Paul Stafford took two for 18 off six and Steven Anderson two for 28 off 10. An important weekend lies ahead for the town side with a home game against Downpatrick on Saturday followed quickly by a re-arranged game against Woodvale at Ballygomartin Road on Sunday.

With Woodvale currently second in the league, the outcomes of these games could go a long way to determining who will be Section 1 champions for 2012.